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Introduction

Missa Doulce mémoire takes one of the sixteenth century’s greatest hits, by Pierre Regnault dit Sandrin (c1490–after 1560) as its inspiration. The chanson Doulce mémoire was published in 1537 or ’38 by the Lyons printer Jacques Moderne. Its subject matter, like so many of its genre, is lost love:

Sweet memory consummated in joy, O happy time of such understanding; The loving steadfastness of our [united] love, Which knew so well how to attend our ills. But now alas has lost its [former] strength Sev’ring the thread of my [one] only hope. A sad example all afflicted see, Cease therefore joy, for sudden evil comes.

translated by Frank Dobbins, from ‘“Doulce mémoire”: A Study of the Parody Chanson’, Proceedings of the Royal Musical Association 96 (1969–70), pp. 85–101

The opening melodic motif, tracing a descending diminished fourth, was one of the most recognizable themes of the century. Necessarily it pervades Rore’s Mass setting, yet its fame allows considerable freedom in adapting Sandrin’s music without the sense of the chanson being lost. The chanson is written in the Parisian manner, with a far more chordal than imitative texture, and Rore’s approach to Mass composition frequently emphasizes the text in homophonic style, rendering the two quite similar in style at times. The Mass setting however is in five voices for the most part, compared with the chanson’s four: as is common at this time, certain sections are reduced in scoring, though Rore is more sparing in this regard than many of his contemporaries. The middle section of the Credo (‘Et ascendit … sedet ad dexteram Patris’) is set for four voices, resting one of the tenor parts, and the Benedictus is a trio for cantus, altus, and tenor. The Agnus Dei is notated in two sections, of which the second adds a baritone part to make a six-voice texture: in fact the three text sections of this movement are divided in such a way that the six-voice section enunciates both the second and third sets of words, with an audible caesura between the two. As so often in the sixteenth century, the Agnus Dei brings out the best in the composer, but other movements of the Mass are also noteworthy for the text-driven expressiveness of Rore’s setting, for instance the Sanctus, where the exemplary text declamation of the opening section builds considerable rhetorical power; and the second Kyrie and ‘Et incarnatus’ of the Credo, both derived from the final couplet of Sandrin’s chanson.

Recordings

A new recording from The Brabant Ensemble and Stephen Rice features the sacred music of Cipriano de Rore, a Renaissance master principally known for his madrigals. The album contains two Mass settings based on French chansons and a selection of mo ...» More

Glory be to God on high and on earth peace, good will towards men. We praise you. We bless you. We worship you. We glorify you. We give thanks to you for your great glory. Lord God, heavenly king, God the Father almighty, Lord the only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ, Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father. You who take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us. You who take away the sins of the world, receive our prayer. You who sit at the right hand of the Father, have mercy on us. For you only are holy. You only are the Lord. You only are most high, Jesus Christ. With the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God the Father. Amen.

I believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, born of his Father before all worlds, God of God, light of light, very God of very God, begotten not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made. Who for us men, and for our salvation, came down from heaven. And was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary, and was made man. And was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate, he suffered and was buried. And the third day he rose again according to the scriptures. And ascended into heaven: he sits at the right hand of the Father. And he shall come again with glory to judge both the quick and the dead: whose kingdom shall have no end. And in the Holy Spirit, Lord and giver of life: who proceeds from the Father and Son, who with the Father and Son is worshipped and glorified: who spoke by the prophets. And in one holy, catholic and apostolic church. I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins. And I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

Lamb of God, you who take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us. Lamb of God, you who take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us. Lamb of God, you who take away the sins of the world, grant us peace.